Ergonomics are an important consideration in many modern day manufacturing environments. That is, many manufacturing-related processes are now examined to make sure that the effort exerted in their performance is not overly burdensome on an operator. A variety of process-related factors may be considered such as, for example, repetitive motion, the required position of the operator's limbs and/or body, and the size, shape and/or weight of components and/or products that must be manipulated by the operator.
While many of these concerns may be obviated through well thought out process and/or equipment design, some cannot. For example, certain process components or products simply cannot be sufficiently reduced in size and/or weight to achieve a particular ergonomic target. A process employing these components or products may, therefore, be difficult for an operator to perform whether on a repetitive basis or otherwise. Similarly, when an operator is required to manipulate large and/or heavy components or products, there is sometimes a risk of harm to the operator and/or of damage to the components or products.
Many types of specialized process assisting equipment have been developed to assist operators in performing what would otherwise be difficult tasks. For example, vacuum lift devices can use a vacuum force to assist an operator when lifting a product. A known vacuum lift device comprises a vacuum lift unit or tube which is able to expand and contract in an upward and downward direction, and a lift tube expansion control valve. The lift tube expansion control valve can control the level of vacuum in the lift tube by controlling an opening area of the lift tube to cause the lift tube to expand and contract in an upward and downward direction. In this vacuum lift device, for example, an object to be lifted is initially held to the lower end portion of the lift tube by the vacuum force. The object can then be lifted by contracting the lift tube by adjusting the lift tube expansion control valve. Accordingly, the object lifted can be maintained at a desired height by operating the lift tube expansion control valve. If desired, the object can be easily moved horizontally by the operator to another place where the object is maintained at a desired height by the vacuum lift device. The object can then be lowered by adjusting the lift tube expansion control valve.
Attachment means, such as suction cups and the like, are conventionally used to couple the object being lifted to the vacuum lift device. These suction cups generally require that the object have a relatively smooth or flat surface for attachment. Other attachment means are known for coupling the vacuum lift device to odd-shaped products and/or products without a smooth surface.
However, in the manufacture and processing of textiles such as thread, yarn, cloth and the like, the textiles can be wound onto packages such as spools or bobbins that define an internal hollow aperture or tube. These textile packages typically do not have a smooth surface in which to attach a suction cup, and further, the outer diameter of the textile packages can be curved. Thus, textile packages cannot be lifted by a conventional vacuum lift tool and attachment means. What is needed then is a lifting tool configured to safely and quickly lift a package defining an internal aperture to a desired height.